Peace with Pakistan is the need of the hour for India to transform the South Asian region. Analyse (200 Words)
Refer - The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 4 years
KEY POINTS
· A fair peace between India and Pakistan is not just good for the two states but for all the nations constituting the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
· Reports such as the World Bank publication titled ‘A Glass Half Full’ and others from the Asian Development Bank and the European Union conclude that there is explosive value to be derived from South Asian economic integration.
· Now the two countries have agreed to maintain ceasefire, it is time for India to engage with Pakistan.
· An economically transformed and integrated South Asian region could advantageously link up with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
· Join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world’s largest trading bloc of 15 countries, accounting for 30% of its GDP, as a much valued partner
· Collectively with a population of slightly over 1.9 billion, South Asia has a GDP (PPP) of $12 trillion.
· This is the moment for India to think big and act big by ambitiously aiming to engineer a South Asian economic miracle in half the time China did.
· But for that to happen, India needs to view a peace with Pakistan not as a bilateral matter, to be arrived at leisurely, if at all, but as essential.
